deadliestwarriorfandomcom-20200222-history
User blog:Pikazilla/Apache vs. Gladiator Review
For those who don’t know: I’m going to be reviewing most of the DB official episodes and examine the characters and the battle itself. I might avoid battles between two characters that are extremely similar; like Green Beret vs Spetsnaz. Apache Apache is a bit unique for being a stonage warrior introduced to steel, allowing him to upgrade the material of his weapons while maintaining the same fighting style. I will be mostly ignoring this, and I will not consider firearms that Apache historically used, since that wasn’t what DW was examining. Plains tribes, especially stonage ones with relatively small populations and surrounded by enemies, have struggled to develop into civilizations due to this lack of resources. Constant tribal warfare is both a blessing and a curse in terms of creating a warrior; Apaches had to find out what worked best and how to perfect that form of warfare, but were stuck in this relatively primitive era of combat. They still make the most of it. To compensate for the lack of armor, they specialize in agility. To compensate for the inability to make large weapons, they made them flexible. The Apache has 3 different projectiles; tomahawk, knives and bow. This allows the Apache to be aggressive, which complements his light weight gear and speed. The Apache might as well be a Ninja from another continent and era. Weaknesses The biggest issue about being lightweight is that the Apache will struggle against a tanky armored warrior and the Apache has no defensive tools, other than a small hide shield. The Apache is aggressive enough to engage in close combat, as seen with his Fatality against the Gladiator, but he was only able to do that after crippling the Gladiator by exploiting his (relatively) unarmored body. Apaches did not fight armor or heavy shields, so this wasn’t an issue for them historically: but can be in Deadliest Warrior. This was especially the case with the War Club; the Apache’s lightweight weapons are quite frail. Gladiator Gladiator is honestly a bizarre warrior, considering that he’s designed for entertainment instead of actual war. Made up of soldiers (both volunteers and prisoners), slaves or just local athletes; Gladiators were quite diverse in their origins and experience. Women Gladiators were once common apparently as well: I’m guessing Wonder Woman was one of them. The most elite Gladiators were ironically spoiled; pampered by servants and wealth. That’s not to say they are wimpy; it’s their job to be fit and be able to take and give a hit. They are trained and experienced to fight various Gladiator types; however these types (and the weapons associated with them) were designed for specific spectacles; boxers, ‘fishermen’ (hence the trident/net), or mimicking the Roman legionaries with the sword/shield combo. Still: this is a warrior that need to prove himself against constant duels against some of the best warriors of the Roman Empire, and some Gladiators were Roman warriors that already confirmed their heroism in battle. The reason why the sling was the projectile of the Gladiators was primarily because slave revolts (which frequently included rebelling Gladiators) frequently use slings, simply because rebels couldn’t afford anything else. Otherwise, the Gladiator is specifically designed to fight in the ring: where ambushes and longrange combat are almost irrelevant. Their kit is specialized for close-ranged brutality and relatively fair 1-on-1 dueling. Weaknesses A blood-sport wants to show blood, and Gladiators are no exception. Gladiator armor is very limited; the majority of Gladiators only have their arteries (especially his right arm), head and lower legs protected. The Gladiator is the only warrior I know that wears armor on his body EXCEPT his torso; where most of his vital organs are! This, combined with the Gladiator’s lack of effective ranged weapons, gives him a massive disadvantage against long-ranged combatants. His shield does attempt to compensate for it; but even a Spartan Aspis has limits to its protection, and the two-handed Trident cannot use the shield (at least in a reasonably effective manner). The fact that Gladiators are strongmen also doesn’t make them invincible; pain tolerance is just a slight advantage, not a game-changing form of indestructibility. Finally; almost none of his weapons are designed to be anti-armor; although I will say that the Sica might be the exception as it can go around shields and potentially around gaps in armor. Side note: The Scissor appears to be similar to the Katara, but it doesn’t appear to be as flexible as a weapon. Not to mention that the Katara is a sidearm that allows superior hand movement, and that the Trident can also stab, but at a longer distance and with wider 3-headed barbed points. Apache vs. Gladiator It’s fun to talk about a ‘David vs Goliath’ duel, but there’s more to it here. First thing to address is the misconception over a Gladiator’s armor and defenses. I agree that the Gladiator’s shield made an impact; but as the episode confirmed, it couldn’t block every attack. The Apache could use his superior mobility and multiple projectiles to maintain hit-and-runs at a distance, something the Gladiator was never designed to face in the ring. The Gladiator’s superior metal armor didn’t hide his torso and had massive gaps for his limbs; making him more vulnerable than what you would expect. Because of this; the Gladiator couldn’t rely on being a tank to survive the more nimble Apache. The best case scenario for the Gladiator would be to ambush the Apache (despite having little to no experience in ambushing and wearing a loud, shiny helmet), use his shield to block the Apache’s projectiles (which wasn’t guaranteed), pin the Apache down with the net (a very obvious and short ranged projectile) then to fishing him off while stunned. The Gladiator just has way too much to deal with in order to engage where he is best at, close range; and even then the Apache can fight at close range as well. Category:Blog posts